28th October 2018

The clocks went back today, an anachronism. Native Americans say if you cut a foot off the top of a blanket and sew it on the bottom, the cloth’s still the same length. It’s made me look back at my long life. I remember coats on the bed for blankets, no phone, no TV, no car. And then my teenage years clashed with the twist and shout of the 60s when everything changed, supposedly for the better. No more wars. Respect for everyone. Working hard would ensure good living standards and homes for all. What happened? People got greedy. Riches without working for it. Fast forward to today. Incredibly, holocaust deniers like Robert Faurisson, who died in Vichy of all places this week, spend their time denying the obvious truths of the past. And events, as in Philadelphia yesterday, still result in horrific bloodshed. The clock’s ticking. Don’t blind yourself to past horrors or get embroiled in extreme hatred; learn from the past so when the Spring comes we can all look forward with hope again.